TripleThreat wrote:smackeddog wrote:If they wanted Russell they should have just kept MCW and played Russell at SG. That MCW trade is the only thing that makes me think they may have their eye on Mudiay and they were clearing the way for him.
I don't see the Michael Carter Williams trade having anything to do to change what Sam Hinkie has shown to have done across multiple drafts.
1) Hinkie is a Daryl Morey prodigy. Morey has never placed a high value on shoving a ton of assets into the point guard position. The Rockets moved from Aaron Brooks to Goran Dragic to Kyle Lowry to Jeremy Lin to Patrick Beverley and will likely keep churning the position for whatever value he can find. He had a chance to get Lowry as a free agent and simply didn't want to outbid what was the going price at the time.
2) Hinkie traded Jrue Holiday. A young All Star. But a point guard. Seems consistent to how he was trained in the front office.
3) MCW was likely the perceived best "value" on the draft board when he was selected. Hinkie goes for the best overall value on the board. Even with Noel in tow, he took Embiid, even with two high pedigree prospects at the pivot, he took another big, Saric. To get Saric, who did he trade? Another point guard, Elfrid Payton, for future assets and to drop back to get Saric.
4) MCW was at the best juncture to be traded. He was still a cost controlled rookie but not in his final rookie contract season, he had won ROTY and he found a team who wanted him, moreso a team with a HOF point guard as a coach who could relate to him and wanted him. And there was a valuable asset to be garnered.
I don't see MCW being traded as Hinkie leaning towards Mundiay. I see MCW being traded because it's consistent to how Hinkie operates over a period of time, based on his personnel history.
He doesn't come from a management culture that wants to burn out massive assets at point guard, he's traded THREE OF THEM in his short GM tenure and he's always shown to take the best value he can off the board, without regard to position ( though the Embiid, Noel and Saric moves all noted the positional value of bigs)
Point guards are to the NBA's statheads as running backs are to the modern NFL GM. Disposable.
If Hinkie does take Mundiay, his track record says its because he feels that player is the best value off the board. It's just that given the positional value uptick of pivot and wings in the modern game, I don't see that happening. Hinkie doesn't need another pivot, he needs wings. If not Russell, then maybe Winslow, but unlikely to be Mundiay.
people are ignoring the metrics side of things.
MCW was a brutal shooter and had horrible advanced stats.
Hinkie wants high efficient players. Russell fits that mold. Does Mudiay? Who the hell knows but the rumors of him not being a good shooter makes me think that they don't go near him.
so here is what phil is thinking ....
6/3/2015 9:33 PM
